Something happens during the summer after sixth year leaving Hermione a shadow of her former self. Can she move on with a little help or will the halls of Hogwarts be haunted forever by stone angels. HGSS, HPDM, RWLL, and GWNL.

Disclaimer- I
don't own them nor do I claim to. I just like to play with them once in a
while.

Authors Note- this
is a HG/SS fic, with a side of RW/LL, a side of GW/NL, and a little HP/DM for
dessert. Warning, rated R for good reason. It is possible that it will go up to
NC-17 later. Lastly, please forgive any stupid American things I do, I fear I
am American and just beginning to catch on to most Briticisms.

Stone Angels

Falling Angels

For once in her life she wasn't the
Know-it-all. As the blows rained upon her back and shoulders,
she didn't know what to do. Finally satisfied that her oldest daughter
had learned her lesson, Averill Granger hurried up the stairs and locked the
basement door.

Hermione sank to her knees, tears
trailing down her cheeks. Across the room, she heard weak coughing and it
brought her back to reality. Silently, she crawled over to the frail girl and
helped her sit up.

"How are you doing Arianna?" She
worried when she didn't get a reply.

Hermione wasn't exactly sure how
long they had been locked in the basement, of the Granger home, but she knew
she had to find a way out. Her sister, having been sick since Hermione's second
year at Hogwarts, wasn't tolerating their situation well. Nearly lost in her
growing depression, she thought back to her return home.

Flashback

"Mom,
I'm home." Hermione Granger, Know-it-all of Hogwarts, walked into her home to
find it silent. "Dad, are you here?"

"Her…
Hermione," said a small voice from the stairs.

Hermione
turned to find her younger sister badly beaten. Fearing the worst, she pulled her wand from her pocket and reached for her sister.
She almost had a hand on her when something slammed into her, pushing her
through the nearly closed study door. She screamed as she came face to face
with the bloody lifeless face of her father. Rolling over quickly, she turned
to find her mother staring down at her. Hermione lunged for her wand only to be
grabbed and thrown near her sister, who had moved away from the stairs. Unable
to reach her wand, she wrapped her arms around her sister and tried her best to
protect the frail-looking girl from their mother. With fist mercilessly
striking at her, she made a choice; she no longer cared if she got into
trouble.

"Accio
Wand!" before her wand reached her hand her mother knocked it away and began
pushing them towards the basement stairs.

End Flashback

"Arianna, we have to try to get out of here,"
whispered Hermione as she began trying to make her brain focus.

Hermione wrapped her sister in the
shredded blanket and went to look for something to help her to escape. She was
crouched in the shadows, to the right of the stairs, when she heard the door
open. As the older woman walked past, without screaming or kicking at her,
Hermione realized that she hadn't been seen. Picking up the first object that
she got her hands on, she brought the Christmas tree stand down on her mother's
head effectively knocking the crazy woman unconscious. Ignoring the food she
ran up the stairs to get her wand, two cloaks, and Arianna's medicine.

Upstairs, she could smell the
rotting corpse of her father and nearly gagged. Pushing on, knowing she had
little time, she found her wand where it had fallen. She retrieved it and
quickly cast a spell to block the smell. Entering the kitchen, she was stunned
to see several long green leaves next to a mortar and pestle. She knew what it
was, but couldn't make her mind focus long enough to identify it. Knowing that
it would have to be identified, she grabbed a plastic storage bag and using it
like a glove; she pulled the leaves inside and sealed it.

As though in a trance, she searched
for her trunk. She looked carefully through the house, starting with her room
and avoiding the study, but found it no where. Finally, she built up the
courage and went into the study. There, covered in her father's blood, was her
trunk and Crookshanks' carrier. Opening her trunk, she found a white envelope
with her name, in her father's handwriting, on it. Quickly putting it in her
pocket, she removed her two heavy cloaks, shrank her trunk and the one next to
it, put them in her pocket, and rushed
back down to her sister.

As Hermione picked her sister up,
the younger girl weighing little more than a child, she woke up, "Mione?"

"We're leaving," hushed Hermione,
"I know some one who can help us."

Since finding the leaves, only one
thing filled her mind: Snape. She knew that he would know what the leaves were
and help them. Carrying her sister up the stairs, she ran from the house.

It was dark outside, so she pulled
both their hoods up, lit her wand, and held it up to call the Knight Bus. When
it appeared, with a loud pop, a second later she reached into her cloak pocket
and took out some gold.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, Miss,
I'm Stan; I'll be your conductor this evening. We can take you where ever you
need to go."

"How much to get
to London?"

"Eleven sickles each, but for
firteen you get 'ot chocolate," he replied, "been slow tonight, no one else ridin',
it'll be a short ride."

Hermione quickly gave him thirty
sickles. Stan helped her to one of the brass beds, and the bus took off with another
pop. Stan left them to get comfortable, and returned a few minutes later with
two steaming cups of hot chocolate. For what it was worth, she helped Arianna
sit up. Stan watched with interest as she cast a weak cooling charm on the hot
chocolate and helped her sister drink it.

"She sick?"

"Yes," replied Hermione, waiting as
Arianna began coughing, "she has been for a while and no one has been able to
help her."

"You her mother?"

"No, her sister."

"She's so small, how old is she?"

"Eleven, she'll start at Hogwarts
this year." Hermione couldn't stop the tear that rolled down her cheek, "I hope
she gets better so she can."

"'ere you
go," he said taking the empty cup and giving her the full one, "we'll be there
in a few more minutes."

Hermione enthusiastically drank her
hot chocolate, only to have her stomach begin to ache. On her lap, Arianna
began to squirm uncomfortably.

"'Mione, my stomach hurts,"
whispered the girl.

"We're almost there Arianna,"
replied Hermione as her vision began to blur, "Just hold on a bit longer."

Hermione wasn't sure she was going
to make it, when Stan appeared before her, "We're here Miss."

"Thank you," replied Hermione.
Gathering all of her strength together; she pulled herself to her feet and
picked up her sister. Carefully, conscious of everything spinning around her,
she got off the bus and made her way into the Leaky Cauldron. Ignoring everyone
around her, she stumbled to the fireplace. Taking some Floo powder from the
shelf she threw it in, step in, and said, "Severus Snape." She hoped it would
work.

Severus Snape sat reclined in his
favorite chair, a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. His heavy
robes had been discarded for the night; he wore comfortable black pants and a
white button down shirt. He was so lost in his book that he didn't notice when
the flames turned green. He was startled, when two girls fell out of his
fireplace vomiting. He immediately recognized Hermione Granger, star pupil and Know-it-all.
Upset by the mess he cast a cleaning charm.

"What in the hell is going on, Miss
Granger?"

"Please help." She tried to pull
the bag from her pocket but couldn't make her muscles work correctly.

Noticing her difficulty, he reached
down and pulled the bag from her pocket. One look told him all he needed to
know. Throwing Floo powder into the fire, he put his head in and said, "Albus,
I have an emergency in my personal quarters, I could use you here immediately."

Satisfied that the headmaster would
arrive to assist him, he rushed to his stores of antidotes and found two vials
of a violently purple potion. Kneeling down, he checked the unknown girl's
pulse and frowned deeply at what he found. He was just about to move on to
Hermione when Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace.

"What's going on Severus?"

"They fell out of my fireplace and
were violently sick on my carpet. Miss Granger pulled that bag of Digitalis
Purpurea out of her pocket. I believe they may have ingested it, though I doubt
that she was willing. If you would assist me in making sure she drinks as much
of that antidote as possible."

"What do you make of these bruises
Severus," Dumbledore asked while dripping the potion into the youngest girl's
mouth.

Snape looked more closely and
realized that the shadows were actually bruises, "Those are very recent. They've
been badly beaten. When is Poppy due back?"

"Not for two weeks," replied
Dumbledore. The girl began to cough and wake up, "you must drink this child. It
will help you feel better."

Arianna nodded, drank the
sickeningly sweet potion, and closed her eyes against the spinning room. After
a moment, she opened them and asked her question, "Hermione?"

"She's also being treated," assured
Albus before scooping her up and moving her to the couch, "What is your name
child?"

"Arianna Granger," she whispered,
"where are we?"

"Hogwarts, Young Miss Granger. You
are safe here," responded Dumbledore.

"Albus, would you retrieve a
sleeping draught for each girl from my stores," said Snape as he carried
Hermione to the opposite end of the couch, "the antidote will work better if
they rest. We can talk to them when they wake."

"Of course, Severus," said
Dumbledore leaving to retrieve the potions.

"Miss Granger,
who did this? Were you attacked by Death Eaters?"

"N… no Professor, our mother," she
rasped.

"Here Severus," said Dumbledore
handing over the potion for Hermione and turning to Arianna, "Drink up Arianna;
this will make you sleep for a while. We can talk more in the morning when you
are feeling better."

"I never feel better," replied the
little girl before swallowing the potion without even making a face.

When Dumbledore looked up at
Severus, it was obvious that something was bothering the younger man. Albus was
bothered as well, though he hid it somewhat better. Finally deciding that
something needed to be said, he looked closely at his almost son.

"I think I need a drink. Do you
have any more of that Fire Whiskey, Severus?" before walking over to the
fireplace and throwing some Floo powder in. "Minerva, are you still awake?"

"Yes, Albus, what is it," She
replied sounding slightly tired.

"Could you please join us in
Severus' rooms," said Dumbledore accepting the tumbler of Fire Whiskey from
Severus.

The first thing she noticed when
she stepped from the fireplace was Albus Dumbledore, a man who rarely drinks,
with a glass of fire whiskey, "What has happened?"

Dumbledore stepped aside, giving
her clear view of the two girls, "They tumbled from Severus' fire about half an
hour ago."

"What has happened to them?" she
asked, sweeping over to her favorite student.

"Their mother," said Severus,
"according to Hermione."

"Who is the other girl?"

"Her name is Arianna Granger," replied
Albus, "she is scheduled to start school in the fall."

"She's been ill since Hermione's
second year," said Minerva thoughtfully, "Hermione approached me several times;
she worried that it would affect her ability to attend school."

"That explains her comment then,"
Albus downed his Fire Whiskey.

"Her comment?" asked Minerva, as
she sat and brushed the girl's hair from her face.

"She's under the impression that
she will never get well."

"I believe both girls have ingested
large doses of Fairy Caps, though I know that Hermione knows they are
poisonous," said Severus, "They will need to be monitored through the night."

"Are you up to the task Severus?"
asked Dumbledore, "I will begin creating a new set of rooms for them."

"You may want these," commented Minerva
as she carefully removed the uncomfortable looking trunks and wand from
Hermione's pocket.

"Thank you Minerva," said Albus
before enlarging them, "we should have some clothes here for them."

"Albus, look at that trunk," said
Snape, "it's blood."

"I fear,
none of us shall sleep tonight. I must call the Order. Minerva, will you see to
their rooms. Make them comfortable; I'm afraid they'll be here for a while. If
you need to, enlist Flitwick to help you." Albus ran his hand through his
beard, "Severus, please take care of them. I fear they have been through quite
an ordeal. Please, refrain from frightening Arianna. Hermione seems to have
built an immunity to your quirks, but she has lived a
relatively safe life here, her sister was elsewhere, we don't know how the
child will react."

"I will try, Sir," replied Severus
Snape. He was not happy.

"I will retrieve Professor Flitwick
and begin. Shall I send a house elf with coffee?"

"That would be appreciated," said
Severus in an attempt to be polite," Thank you."

Albus waited for Minerva to leave
before he turned back to Severus, "Do we have any idea what the long-term
effects of Fairy Caps would have on the child?"

"I'm not sure, Albus. Poppy may
know more, but I'll do some research tonight."

Severus watched silently as he left
before turning to the two girls, "What are we going to do? I don't know how to
be anything other than the frightening potions professor."

With a sigh he placed a pale hand
on each girl's face. Unsatisfied with his finding, he silently went into his
rooms. When he returned, he brought out two blankets, one
silver and one green and gently tucked one around each of them. That
finished, he went to his personal library and retrieved his books on poisons.
Arms full of heavy books; he was startled to see Dobby in his rooms pouring him
a large mug of coffee.

"I need a book from the library,
Dobby. It is called 'Digitalis Purpurea, A Study of Slow Death'. It is located
in the restricted section."

"Dobby will find it for you Sir."
bowed the house elf, "Would Sir be needing anything
else?"

"Yes, but I need that book first,"
replied Snape from behind his book.

"Dobby be
hurrying then, sir." With that the house elf disappeared. No more than five
minutes later he appeared with the book then stepped back to wait.

As soon as the book was in his hand
it was opened, and he was searching for the information he needed. A quick
glance at the table of contents and a flip of the pages, he began reading,
committing each sentence to memory in a way that only Know-it-alls can. Finding
what he needed, he ordered a special broth from the kitchen for when the girls
awoke.

As soon as Dobby was gone, he
opened his private stores and began collecting the potions necessary to bring
both girls back to health; though he wouldn't be certain until both girls were
awake and he could compare their symptoms. He was nearly finished collecting
the potions when he heard the first whimper of fear from the couch. Moving
around the couch, to find out which girl it was, he was startled to find it was
Hermione lost in the throes of a nightmare

Ever conscious of their lack of
thought to their injuries, Severus Snape lifted the woman into his arms and
tried to wake her. His first attempt, he shook her shoulder gently but this
caused her to cry out and begin to struggle. He realized his mistake, but the
damage was done, so he tried a different approach. He gently brushed her
tangled curls away from her face and called her name.

"Hermione, it's time to wake up,"
he tried gently before remembering that she was fighting through the sleep
draught, "Shh… just listen to my voice Hermione. You are safe; I will take care
of you and Arianna. Relax and let the sleeping draught wear off in its own
time." To his surprise, she fought it to wakefulness but then again, he would
have too.

"We made it," she choked out upon
seeing his face, "how long have we been out of school? Is Arianna okay? Was it
really Fairy Cap?"

"Hermione, you must calm yourself.
Arianna is still asleep, and should be fine. Yes, Hermione, that was Digitalis
Purpurea. You probably saved both your lives by bringing those leaves. We
wouldn't have known what to treat."

Hermione burst into tears, "How
long has it been since I left here?" she gasped between sobs.

"Hermione, school begins in three
weeks." her reaction concerned him.

"I… I… I can't stay in here!" she
cried grasping her chest. Her face was pale, sweat poured down her forehead,
and she was gasping for breath, "I have to get out of here."

Severus Snape, in all of his
experience, knew a panic attack when he saw one. It was not pity that he felt,
far from it, but pure untainted anger, "Where would you like to go, Hermione?"

"I need to go outside." She gasped
clenching her hand to her chest, tears still streaming down her cheeks,
"Please, I… I need to see the sky."

He knew that it was part Fairy Caps
poisoning and part aftermath of her experience. He did what he would have
wished done for him. Wrapping her as tightly as she would allow, he moved to
the outer wall and tapped it with his wand. As an afterthought he turned to
Dobby, who was returning.

"Dobby, watch over the child; if
she moves or makes a sound, alert me immediately."

"Yes, Sir."
Dobby sat down and pulled the girl into his lap, rocking her like a baby.

Once they got outside, Hermione was
able to calm down enough to talk to him.

"I'm sorry." she looked down at the
ground, refusing to meet his eyes.

"What happened to you?" he asked
softly.

"I… I got home, my parents had my
bag delivered and had me run some errands before I came home. I couldn't find
anyone when I first got there, but Arianna came down the stairs. When I saw her,
I thought that Death Eaters had attacked and drew my wand. Someone slammed into
me and…" her breathing started to become labored as she fought with the memory.

Snape wished he had remembered a
calming potion, "Relax and breath slowly. You are safe with me; I will not let
anything happen to you." He was surprised at how sincere those words felt.

After a few moments, she was able
to continue, "I was pushed through the study door and into my father's body. He
was dead, for a few hours at least. I managed to get my wand back once but she
slammed into me again, which knocked my wand away. She started hitting anything
close to her and I tried to protect Arianna. She's been so sick, for so long.
I… I used magic outside of school grounds. I called my wand, but she knocked
from the air and pushed us down the basement stairs." Tears rolled down her
face unchecked, "She left us there with the door locked, no food, no water, and
no light until we were too weak to fight back. I lost track of time. She
started feeding us, and giving us water again, once we were weak enough to
beat. We started getting sick though. At first, I thought it was from not
having food for that long but it didn't get better.

"I knew I was missing something but
I couldn't focus. We got food and water once a day and she'd beat us every time
she came down. If we tried to fight her, she'd stop feeding us. She would
scream, she'd scream and scream and scream. She wouldn't stop. She just kept
screaming 'I'll beat it out of you. I won't give up my dreams for your filthy
magic. I'll beat it out of you or one of us will die trying. No more magic.
Filthy stupid girls aren't good enough to eat, aren't good enough for light or fresh
air. Filthy, stupid, ignorant, selfish, tainted, whores, not even good enough
to lick my boots!' Arianna stopped answering me yesterday, and I got scared. I
thought she'd died until I saw her breathing. I… I started looking for
something, to help us get out, when she came down again. She… She didn't see me
in the shadows and I hit her with the tree stand. I got my wand, she left it
where it fell, and went to get Arianna's medicine. That's when I saw the leaves
with the mortar and pestle." She started gasping for breath, oblivious to the
fact that Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lupin, Moody, and Tonks were standing beside
them.

"Deep breaths,
slow and calm. You're safe. I won't let anything happen to you or Arianna,"
said Severus Snape. It was not a voice he'd ever heard himself use before.

"My brain wouldn't listen. I knew
that I knew them but couldn't focus on what the leaves were so I took them. I
used the bag like a glove, afraid to touch them. I knew I had to get to you,
you would know what they were, what was making us sick. It was like my brain
got stuck, it just kept repeating to itself; find Snape, Snape's a potions
master. We can trust Snape. Once I had the leaves, I went in search of my
trunk." Tears started running faster down her cheeks and her breathing more
difficult. Dobby came out to steal Dumbledore away, and when he approached
again; he carried Arianna, "I searched and searched, but I didn't want to go
into the study. I didn't want to see it again. Daddy's dead. He packed
Arianna's trunk, and there was a letter in my trunk. I got out cloaks and
shrank everything else. Mum was still unconscious when I went back down for
Arianna. I just grabbed her and ran out of the house.

"I remembered Harry telling me of
the Knights Bus and I tried it. It worked and we got on. He gave us hot
chocolate, it was very chocolaty. He lied to me, the conductor, he said there
wasn't anyone else on the bus but I heard someone snoring. By the time we got
to the Leaky Cauldron we were sick again."

"How were you sick Hermione?" asked
Severus. "I need to know so I can try and make Arianna better."

"Stomach cramps, vomiting, vertigo,
sometimes it was like I was blind, and it was like something was making my
brain work really slow. Everything was hazy, and I couldn't think straight."
She took a deep breath, nearly finished, "I carried Arianna into the Leaky
Cauldron and used the Floo network to get here. I… I don't even know what
happened to Crookshanks," she sobbed finally, all strength she had seemed to
dwindle before them, and she clung to Severus Snape in her weakness.

"Hermione," said Tonks approaching
the younger girl, "When I went to your house, I found someone for you. He was
scratching at a basement window, trying desperately to get inside." Tonks let
the orange bundle out of her grasp and it bolted for Hermione.

"Why don't we move this inside,"
suggested Dumbledore.

"Not to the dungeons," begged
Hermione, "I… I want someplace with windows."

"Your common room and rooms are
finished. We can retire there to finish this business, if that is okay with you
Hermione," said Minerva.

"Yes, that would be okay," Hermione
sighed looking down at her hands, "I'm sorry I've caused so much trouble."

Severus looked at his fellow Order
members with worry written plainly across his face, "Remus, will you bring the
potions on the table and have Dobby bring their trunks?"

"No problem," answered the
werewolf.

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